The economy will undoubtedly be a big issue in this year’s midterm elections. But how does the New York Department of Labor get the data to calculate the unemployment rate, and what does that mean?
Russell Weaver, quantitative geographer and director of research at the Cornell ILR Buffalo Collaborative Lab, participated. capital tonight It will help you organize everything on Monday.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, located in the Department of Labor, continuously monitors the labor and pay situation of households and businesses. Weaver said these data points alone don’t tell the whole story, but they can be triangulated together to help paint a picture of the full picture of labor. You can adjust as your business changes.
The country is currently experiencing record high inflation while enjoying low unemployment. Weaver said there was some debate about the long-term relationship between unemployment and inflation. But in the short term when unemployment is low, workers can demand higher wages, which employers pass on to consumers, causing inflation. Conversely, low inflation lowers the cost of doing business.
In New York, the labor force participation rate is up month-on-month, which means more people are looking for jobs and joining the workforce. Another labor statistic, known as the U6, shows more part-time workers seeking full-time employment and fewer workers dropping out of the workforce.
According to Weaver, one of the things to watch this week is whether the Federal Reserve will take further action on national interest rates. Weaver said the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates to keep inflation down, but it could raise unemployment.
